Featured Projects

St. Johns County Masters Tract Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility

St. Johns County implemented this project to reduce nutrient loads to the Lower ...

St. Johns County Masters Tract Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility

St. Johns County implemented this project to reduce nutrient loads to the Lower St. Johns River (LSJR) to meet the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) compliance goals of the LSJR Basin Management Action Plan. Jones Edmunds prepared a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER). We also helped with the design, permitting, and construction-phase services for the Masters Tract Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility. Masters Tract is a 272-acre parcel owned by St. Johns County adjacent to Deep Creek, a tributary of the LSJR. Agricultural uses negatively impact stormwater runoff from upstream areas, resulting in high nutrient loads to Deep Creek. As a result, the design focused on optimizing nitrogen removal through multiple treatment methodologies. These include wet pond construction, stormwater harvesting, infiltration canals, and constructed wetland communities. Jones Edmunds completed extensive wetland field investigations to delineate all on-site wetlands, identify wetland mitigation areas, and determine wetland creation design elevations using Deep Creek floodplain wetlands. We also provided a Phase I Environmental Assessment and soil nutrient for the County. The project included routing incoming creek flows to a stormwater pump station that discharges to a regional stormwater basin for initial treatment and nutrient removal. We then route the water to agricultural irrigation, two large emergent marsh flow-ways, or a series of three 13+-acre treatment wetland cells for further water-quality polishing. Furthermore, we use excess stormwater for irrigation of a nearby farm that currently uses groundwater. In addition, the project provides 21 wetland mitigation credits generated by the constructed wetlands to offset the future County Capital Improvement Program wetland impacts. These mitigation credits result in a value of approximately $2.1M. Jones Edmunds assisted the County in securing $2.9 million in grant funding and is providing grant administration and construction services.

St. Johns County Wetland and TMDL Feasibility Study

Jones Edmunds is analyzing properties in the southwest part of St. Johns County ...

St. Johns County Wetland and TMDL Feasibility Study

Jones Edmunds is analyzing properties in the southwest part of St. Johns County with the goal of identifying parcels that are potential land acquisition opportunities. The feasibility study is identifying sites that serve multiple goals and are economically advantageous. The opportunities identified at each site are prioritized based on their potential role in mitigating water-quality issues related to the County’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) for the Lower St. Johns River as well as the wetland mitigation opportunities. Many of the sites identified have the potential for restoring historical floodplain wetlands in existing sod farms or for creating wetlands. For instance, the Masters site which St. Johns County will purchase from SJRWMD, will help achieve the County’s BMAP nutrient-reduction goals, provide fill for other County capital projects, and serve as a regional offsite wetland mitigation area. This will be accomplished by restoring former Deep Creek floodplain wetlands, creating new wetlands, and enhancing uplands as well as designing, obtaining permitting for, and constructing a regional stormwater treatment facility that treats agricultural runoff before outfalling to Deep Creek (with a removed cost much lower than other alternatives).

NASA Space Commerce Way

This project consisted of designing approximately 2.5 miles of four-lane roadway...

NASA Space Commerce Way

This project consisted of designing approximately 2.5 miles of four-lane roadway with associated signalization and stormwater management. Space Commerce Way is west of Kennedy Parkway and connects Kennedy Parkway south of Ransom Road to NASA Parkway just west of the Visitor Center. The roadway provides access for non-badged persons traveling from North Merritt Island to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center as well as to Titusville. Jones Edmunds also designed, permitted, and provided construction services for a freshwater marsh created from an abandoned citrus grove that provided low wildlife and ecological value. Design of the freshwater marsh included elevations for three wetland communities, slope design, a vegetation planting plan, a remedial plan, and a monitoring plan. Several design elements were added to increase wildlife habitat, including deep and shallow zones, upland islands, hydrologic connections to adjacent water bodies, and snags for bird roosting. The wetland has undergone 3 years of post-construction monitoring. These monitoring events have demonstrated that wildlife use is high as evidenced by continual observations of fish, alligators, turtles, and various wading birds. Jones Edmunds also provided technical services during the construction of Space Commerce Way. The work included associated wetland mitigation construction and bidding services. Mitigation design included supervising, implementing, and monitoring a 2-acre created freshwater marsh and creation of a 56-acre saltwater marsh at the Kennedy Space Center to compensate for wetland impacts associated with the construction of the roadway. A critical design element was to develop a created wetland area that would not become dominated by Brazilian pepper. Jones Edmunds developed design criteria for the mitigation site by documenting vegetation, soils, and hydrology in an adjacent wetland, as well as wetlands dominated by Brazilian pepper. In addition, we helped NASA restore a 56-acre saltwater marsh that had been degraded from a mosquito impoundment.

SFWMD Lakeside STA Gopher Tortoise Relocation

Jones Edmunds conducted gopher tortoise survey, permitting, and relocation servi...

SFWMD Lakeside STA Gopher Tortoise Relocation

Jones Edmunds conducted gopher tortoise survey, permitting, and relocation services for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area project that comprises over 1,200 acres. Jones Edmunds also completed extensive vegetation and tortoise surveys for the SFWMD Hickory Hammock and Ft. Basinger recipient sites. We prepared and submitted two separate gopher tortoise relocation (Conservation) and a Long-Term Recipient Site permit application to the FWC and obtained permits. The Ft. Basinger site is SFWMD’s first gopher tortoise recipient site. Burrowing owls, bald eagles, and Sherman’s fox squirrels were also documented on-site by Jones Edmunds scientists. Jones Edmunds conducted several pre-construction 100% tortoise surveys of the site, assisted with and supervised the backhoe excavation of over 300 burrows, and transported and released over 150 tortoises to the SFWMD Hickory Hammock or the Brahma Island Recipient Site. We generated a Final Report which summarized the surveys, permitting, and relocation activities at this site.

Space Florida Shiloh Environmental Impact Statement

In this project that attracted national and international attention, Jones Edmu...

Space Florida Shiloh Environmental Impact Statement

In this project that attracted national and international attention, Jones Edmunds provided project support for a broad range of resource areas including land use, water resources (wetlands, floodplains, surface waters, groundwater, and Wild and Scenic Rivers/Special Class water bodies), threatened and endangered species, infrastructure and utilities impacts, and transportation (highway access, roads, and railroads) impacts to natural resources. We also assisted with the required extensive public involvement and were involved with extensive agency coordination for the many possible alternatives to the proposed action.

Jones Edmunds coordinated with, prepared, and obtained approval from the USFWS Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge of a listed species survey plan for the launch complex and two proposed off-site support facilities in Volusia County. We subsequently completed USFWS/FWC-compliant Florida scrub-jay, eastern indigo snake, gopher tortoise, and four seasonal migratory bird surveys at the proposed at each location. We also set up four drift fence arrays to survey to investigate amphibian species such as the gopher frog and herpetofauna species at the Shiloh Launch Complex site. We completed jurisdictional wetland delineations for the USACE at the Shiloh Launch Complex, two off-site support facilities, and a notional Pad 49 at KSC and obtained jurisdictional determination permits. We provided information necessary to support Section 404(b) review and development of the USACE Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative and prepared a final report that was submitted to Space Florida.

Ecology

Protecting Florida’s ecology is a key to our sustainability and resiliency. Providing purposeful ecological services within restoration projects or new site development, whether it’s for wetlands or listed wildlife species, is a cornerstone to providing that protection. We offer our clients ecology services to provide a seamless and cost-effective, in-house team for the assessment, design, and permitting of their important projects. We efficiently and quickly inform our clients of potential ecological issues, conflicts, and opportunities with their proposed projects to protect and restore ecological functions while also finding ways to move projects forward.

We provide innovative and cost saving ecological services and help you navigate your projects’ regulatory requirements. Our diverse ecological services include terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, and marine systems, and our projects range from those driven by regulations to research. These services include:

  • Wetland and Habitat Assessments
  • Wetland Mitigation Design and Regional Off-Site Mitigation Areas
  • Public Utility Wetland and Hydrologic Monitoring Services
  • Hydric Soil Investigations
  • Listed Wildlife Species Assessments, Surveys, and Permitting
  • Marine and Aquatic Resource Assessment Services
  • Federal, State, and Local Environmental Permitting
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